Miami Heat has been trying to move center Hassan Whiteside for the past two years, but his contract isn’t really a tradable asset in today’s NBA. Whiteside also doesn’t intend to make things easier for the Miami Heat, since he decided to use his $27.1 million player option for 2019/20 NBA season.

The news about Whiteside’s decision to opt into his contract was first reported by Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson, who added that the 30-year-old intends to inform Miami Heat about his decision in coming days.

Just because Whiteside used his player option, that doesn’t mean he wants to remain in Miami. According to Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press, there is a “growing belief” around the organization that the player will ask for a trade once he opts in.

Hassan Whiteside lost the starting role to Bam Adebayo last season, but still managed to put up a respectable number including 12.3 points, 11.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. Whiteside took an issue with his role on the team last season and the fact that he averaged only 23.3 minutes per game, openly criticizing the team’s decision.   

“I don’t think I’m a 20-minute guy. I average what, 20 minutes? So I think I can play more and I can do more,” – said Whiteside back in April. “So I definitely think what I bring to the game is at a high level for my position. You know, I led the league in categories that you would want a big man to lead the league in. I feel like I can keep doing that.”

Still, it seems like Whiteside decided to choose money over starting minutes, as Adebayo is expected to keep on his role in the next season. This will lead to Whiteside becoming the league’s most expensive backup center if Heat doesn’t decide to give up some assets in order to trade him.

The post Heat’s Hassan Whiteside Will Opt Into Contract, Ask for a Trade appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Miami Heat’s center Hassan Whiteside didn’t have a great 2017-18 season. He received less playing time, his production dipped, and the 29-year-old barely played in the playoffs. Whiteside then publicly complained about his role with the team and confronted with Heat’s coach Erik Spoelstra and president Pat Riley.

All of that seems to be a distant past since Hassan Whiteside said on Thursday that he had a great talk with both Spoelstra and Riley and that he feels a lot better about his place in the team.

“We had a great talk,” – Whiteside told reporters. “I just think it’s trust on both sides. I think that’s the biggest thing … It was about a four-hour meeting. It was a lot about life. It was two hours basketball, two hours life. It was a good meeting.“

Whiteside added that he wasn’t healthy “all last year,” which contributed to his struggles on the basketball court.

“I was in and out of the rotation with injuries. Just coming back healthy. Coming back from a bone bruise, it takes months to heal,” – he said.

Hassan Whiteside initially entered the league in 2010, when he was selected in the second round of the NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings. After only playing 19 games in two years with the Kings, he went on to have several stints with various NBA G teams and even played overseas in Lebanon and China.

In 2014, Whiteside returned to NBA and signed with the Miami Heat, where he managed to resurrect his career. In each of the following seasons, he averaged more than 11.8 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game. In 2016 he was NBA blocks leader with 3.7 blocks per game, and in 2017 he was NBA rebounding leader with 14.1.

The post Hassan Whiteside Had a “Great Talk” With Coach about His Future appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Despite being one of Miami Heat’s key players during the regular season, Hassan Whiteside saw his minutes going down in the first round against the Philadelphia 76ers. The 28-year-old center played 13.5 minutes on average in the first three games of the series. After the Heat suffered a 128-108 defeat at home in Game 3, Whiteside said he wants “to get more minutes” while underlining that he still believes the decision-making of coach Erik Spoelstra.

“I want to get more rebounds out there. I want to get more minutes out there. I’m just going to keep trusting coach’s decision-making,” – said Whiteside. “Even with the fouls, I still could have been out there. I wouldn’t have fouled out. I am going to keep trusting coach’s decision-making.“

Hassan Whiteside averaged 14 points and 11.4 rebounds during the regular season, but those numbers dropped to 3.7 points and four rebounds in the playoffs. The player thinks that the dip in the production is caused by Heat’s offensive approach.

“It’s just different, man. I feel like our offense is a lot different. I’m not as involved in as many dribble handoffs as I was and post-ups as I was in the regular season,” – he added. “That’s what coach [Spoelstra] wants. Coach wants me to just be in the corner and set picks. That’s what he wants. I’ve just got to trust it.“

One of the reasons for Whiteside’s diminished role in the first two games was 76ers decision to play a smaller lineup due to the absence of Joel Embiid. In the Game 3, however, Whiteside still didn’t get more playing time even with Embiid’s return, since he picked up two early fouls and continued to struggle with foul trouble throughout the game.

Erik Spoelstra took the part of the blame for Whiteside’s poor production while talking to reporters after Thursday’s loss.

“He might not necessarily put up the numbers, but it’s part of my job to figure it out and figure out how he can get to his strengths and be an impact player for us,” – said Spoelstra. “It starts with the defense, the rebounding. He has a lot of responsibilities for us offensively. I’ll spend some time working that out in the next day in a half.“

The post Heat’s Hassan Whiteside Wants “To Get More Minutes” In the Series versus the 76ers appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Miami Heat has been trying to move center Hassan Whiteside for the past two years, but his contract isn’t really a tradable asset in today’s NBA. Whiteside also doesn’t intend to make things easier for the Miami Heat, since he decided to use his $27.1 million player option for 2019/20 NBA season.

The news about Whiteside’s decision to opt into his contract was first reported by Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson, who added that the 30-year-old intends to inform Miami Heat about his decision in coming days.

Just because Whiteside used his player option, that doesn’t mean he wants to remain in Miami. According to Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press, there is a “growing belief” around the organization that the player will ask for a trade once he opts in.

Hassan Whiteside lost the starting role to Bam Adebayo last season, but still managed to put up a respectable number including 12.3 points, 11.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. Whiteside took an issue with his role on the team last season and the fact that he averaged only 23.3 minutes per game, openly criticizing the team’s decision.   

“I don’t think I’m a 20-minute guy. I average what, 20 minutes? So I think I can play more and I can do more,” – said Whiteside back in April. “So I definitely think what I bring to the game is at a high level for my position. You know, I led the league in categories that you would want a big man to lead the league in. I feel like I can keep doing that.”

Still, it seems like Whiteside decided to choose money over starting minutes, as Adebayo is expected to keep on his role in the next season. This will lead to Whiteside becoming the league’s most expensive backup center if Heat doesn’t decide to give up some assets in order to trade him.

The post Heat’s Hassan Whiteside Will Opt Into Contract, Ask for a Trade appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Miami Heat’s center Hassan Whiteside didn’t have a great 2017-18 season. He received less playing time, his production dipped, and the 29-year-old barely played in the playoffs. Whiteside then publicly complained about his role with the team and confronted with Heat’s coach Erik Spoelstra and president Pat Riley.

All of that seems to be a distant past since Hassan Whiteside said on Thursday that he had a great talk with both Spoelstra and Riley and that he feels a lot better about his place in the team.

“We had a great talk,” – Whiteside told reporters. “I just think it’s trust on both sides. I think that’s the biggest thing … It was about a four-hour meeting. It was a lot about life. It was two hours basketball, two hours life. It was a good meeting.“

Whiteside added that he wasn’t healthy “all last year,” which contributed to his struggles on the basketball court.

“I was in and out of the rotation with injuries. Just coming back healthy. Coming back from a bone bruise, it takes months to heal,” – he said.

Hassan Whiteside initially entered the league in 2010, when he was selected in the second round of the NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings. After only playing 19 games in two years with the Kings, he went on to have several stints with various NBA G teams and even played overseas in Lebanon and China.

In 2014, Whiteside returned to NBA and signed with the Miami Heat, where he managed to resurrect his career. In each of the following seasons, he averaged more than 11.8 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game. In 2016 he was NBA blocks leader with 3.7 blocks per game, and in 2017 he was NBA rebounding leader with 14.1.

The post Hassan Whiteside Had a “Great Talk” With Coach about His Future appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Despite being one of Miami Heat’s key players during the regular season, Hassan Whiteside saw his minutes going down in the first round against the Philadelphia 76ers. The 28-year-old center played 13.5 minutes on average in the first three games of the series. After the Heat suffered a 128-108 defeat at home in Game 3, Whiteside said he wants “to get more minutes” while underlining that he still believes the decision-making of coach Erik Spoelstra.

“I want to get more rebounds out there. I want to get more minutes out there. I’m just going to keep trusting coach’s decision-making,” – said Whiteside. “Even with the fouls, I still could have been out there. I wouldn’t have fouled out. I am going to keep trusting coach’s decision-making.“

Hassan Whiteside averaged 14 points and 11.4 rebounds during the regular season, but those numbers dropped to 3.7 points and four rebounds in the playoffs. The player thinks that the dip in the production is caused by Heat’s offensive approach.

“It’s just different, man. I feel like our offense is a lot different. I’m not as involved in as many dribble handoffs as I was and post-ups as I was in the regular season,” – he added. “That’s what coach [Spoelstra] wants. Coach wants me to just be in the corner and set picks. That’s what he wants. I’ve just got to trust it.“

One of the reasons for Whiteside’s diminished role in the first two games was 76ers decision to play a smaller lineup due to the absence of Joel Embiid. In the Game 3, however, Whiteside still didn’t get more playing time even with Embiid’s return, since he picked up two early fouls and continued to struggle with foul trouble throughout the game.

Erik Spoelstra took the part of the blame for Whiteside’s poor production while talking to reporters after Thursday’s loss.

“He might not necessarily put up the numbers, but it’s part of my job to figure it out and figure out how he can get to his strengths and be an impact player for us,” – said Spoelstra. “It starts with the defense, the rebounding. He has a lot of responsibilities for us offensively. I’ll spend some time working that out in the next day in a half.“

The post Heat’s Hassan Whiteside Wants “To Get More Minutes” In the Series versus the 76ers appeared first on SportzBonanza.